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Photos: 15th Annual International Christian Human Rights Conference

About 1,000 delegates attended the recent 2004 International Christian Human Rights Conference sponsored by Christian Solidarity Worldwide, Premier Christian Radio and Release International

About 1,000 delegates attended the recent 2004 International Christian Human Rights Conference sponsored by Christian Solidarity Worldwide, Premier Christian Radio and Release International. The conference—held on Saturday, Nov. 6 at Buckingham Gate’s Westminster Chapel in London—featured speakers from China, Colombia, Eritrea and Sri Lanka who told of the work they do and the persecution they endure.

From China, Peter Xu, who founded a church in China that today runs into the millions, claimed the church in China had grown from some 800,000 in the 1940s to an estimated 150 million today. However, despite the rapid growth, many religious leaders and adherents in China have been detained, arrested, or sentenced to prison terms. Xu, the ‘father in faith’ of Brother Yun who authored the best-selling book ‘Heavenly Man,’ had been arrested five times and spent more then seven years in prison.

Astrid Zuluaga from Colombia, who works as a regional coordinator for the Colombian Commission for Restoration, Life, and Peace (CRVP), said that in Colombia, women were very often the ones who suffered the consequences of violence against the church, which had seen 80 pastors and church leaders assassinated during 2002-2003. According to reports, terrorist organizations generally target religious leaders and practitioners for political, rather than religious, reasons.

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Dr. Berhane Asmelash of Eritrea, who used his medical skills to serve his church in Eritrea before moving to the UK for theological training, explained how some Christians are tortured in prison and others exposed to malaria-carrying mosquitoes and locked in shipping containers in soaring temperatures. Since an edict in May 2002 banned all but three Christian denominations, some 400 people are imprisoned for their faith in Eritrea.

Asmelash said he is now unable to return to Eritrea, as it would almost certainly result in his imprisonment and probable torture.

Reporting on the persecution in Sri Lanka, General Secretary of the National Christian Evangelical Alliance of Sri Lanka, Godfrey Yogarajah said that last year, 140 churches had been closed down. Yogarajah also highlighted the danger posed to religious freedom by proposed anti-conversion legislation and constitutional reforms to make Buddhism the state religion.

Delegates also heard from Ben Rogers, author of A Land Without Evil and Advocacy Officer on South Asia for CSW, who spoke on religious persecution in Burma and Pakistan. Mark Butler of Release International and Dr. Khataza Gondwe of CSW also spoke about the religious violence in Nigeria.

According to Open Doors, an estimated 200 million Christians worldwide suffer interrogation, arrest and even death for their faith in Christ, with another 200 to 400 million facing discrimination and alienation.

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